Overview of ancient village

The Aoshang Ancient Village of Suxian District, located in Aoshang Town, is a typical traditional village in southern Hunan. Chen Yangbing, Village Director, introduced that the whole village was "dragon-shaped". The Shangtouwan was "dragon-head", and the Xiatouwan was "dragon-body", lying in the hinterland of "two rivers" (referring to the East and West rivers, the image of "two rivers with gold"). Two pagodas, commonly known as "Paper Tower", were built on both sides of the "dragon's head", resembling dragon horns, in order to achieve the prosperity of literati in villages from generation to generation. The bluestone slab road, which connects with the nearby villages, resembles the Dragon beard. There are three stone steps between the Shangtouwan and Xiatouwan, which are called Nanao, Zhongao and Beiao respectively.

The reason why Aoshang Village is called "Aoshang" is that when people walk out or enter the village, they have to pass through three depressions in the south, middle and north of the Shangtouwan behind the village. It was understood that the Aoshang Ancient village has gone through three development periods, spanning about 200 years. After countless years, although the extent of damage is regrettable, it is still one of the few well-preserved ancient villages in Chenzhou and even in the whole country so far. There are 64 ancient buildings with traditional brick and wood structure in Ming and Qing dynasties in the village and the houses are built according to the situation in the mountains. Most of them are situated in the west facing east, layers upon layers. There are many planned "wells" shaped alleys between the houses, which are connected vertically and horizontally by bluestone slabs. The front, back and sides of each row of houses are also surrounded by underground trenches in the shape of "wells". The trenches are covered with large blocks of bluestone slabs. In appropriate places, the underground trenches are turned into open trenches to provide water for villagers. Walking among them, the greatest feeling is that the whole ancient architecture of this ancient village has a unified style, neat planning, compact structure and reasonable layout.

Villagers said that 10 kilometers west of Aoshang Village, there was a famous "Hunan-Guangdong Ancient Road", which was an important transportation road between the Central Plains and Lingnan in ancient times. Depending on the important traffic location of the Hunan-Guangdong Ancient Road and the continuous flow of businessmen, Aoshang Village has gradually formed a "landlord" capital and a grain trading center. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the financial power of Aoshang Village gradually strengthened, which contributed to its external influence. Entering the Republic of China, the Guangzhou- Wuchang Railway built a railway station in Tanjiahou Mountain (under Yangjiaoling Mountain) and named it "Aoshang Railway Station", which is still in use today. The township government of Chenxian County was also located in the Aoshangwan because of its influence, and the name of the present Aoshang Town was also derived from the Aoshang Village, which showed the political status of Aoshang Village at that time.

The ancient dwellings

It's also a good enjoyment to wander around the Aoshang Ancient Village and appreciate the folk art that spreads all over it. The historical sceneries here are well preserved. The three carvings (brick carving, stone carving, wood carving) have exquisite patterns, exquisite craftsmanship and a large number, and the eaves and plaques hide many legends and deeds. In the village, you can see all kinds of fresh and beautiful carving art, exquisite and delicate God of literature and wealth stone carvings, implying that the owner yearns for reading and being an official; the fierce ferret is a treasure for every household and town to ward off evil spirits; all kinds of wood carvings with unique ingenuity are different and vivid. Duan Guisheng, a 94-year-old man, has kept a wooden carving bed with the theme of "Flight Of The Phoenix", which has gone through three generations in her generation. It has a history of more than 100 years and has never been repaired, but it is still brilliant and clear, which is amazing. The eaves decorative art of ancient villages, which integrates calligraphy, painting and relief, and various plaques highlighted by "Wenzhong Shidi", "Yishao Pingquan" and "Qiming Sanjun", are still clear and vivid after hundreds of years of storms and hardships, which is also admiring.

The flagstone roads

The stone carving

The ancient well

Old people and ancient houses are the treasures of the ancient villages.